Believe - Courage
by Emme2589
Summary: A young orphaned fox lives on his own in an old abandoned garage with nothing but his skills in mechanics to keep him company, but his life changes when he meets a kind green-eyed blue hedgehog. Old Fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

**This was one of the first stories I ever wrote. I posted it on DeviantArt way back in the day, but this time around, I decided to combine it with the sequel and break it up into smaller chapters for this website. I fixed the multiple spelling and grammar errors, but other than that, not a thing was changed. I hope you like it! :D**

* * *

I wiped sweat off my forehead as I leaned over my work on the rusty metal bench. I felt so calm when I was working. It always kept my hands busy and my mind full.

I was born with a deformity, and because of it, no one could stop teasing me. Everyone would always find some new way to torture me whether it was insults, or physical damage. Ever since my parents died, I've been all alone in this horrible neighborhood. As soon as I get enough money I'm leaving!

"Prower!" I snapped my head up to find my boss in the doorway of the small room, "Why aren't you working on those projects I gave you!?"

"Uh...I finished them." I replied.

"Oh really! It's been fifteen minutes!"

I looked down into my hand-held, "I know..."

He glared at me, "Your telling me that you fixed the air conditioner, rebuilt the cyber-drive converter and fixed the computer from MechForce!?"

I nodded.

He gave me one last evil stare before he left the room, most likely to make sure I was telling the truth, and as soon as he was gone, I got right back to work. I was trying to upgrade my hand-held's signal strength so I could connect to something called "The Internet". I wasn't sure what it was, all I knew was that it required a very strong signal in the middle of nowhere.

My boss came back and angrily crossed his arms, "You were telling the truth...how do you do it!?"

I said nothing as I let my arms go limp at my sides.

"Tell ya what kid, I'll let you go early today, but I'll have a test for you tomorrow. We clear!?"

"Yes." I packed everything back in my toolbox and stood up, "Thank you." I left that place as fast as I could. I love mechanics, but that place is just horrible!

The way home was rough, as usual. You got your typical stuff like street gangs and druggies, then there's the old man who yells at everyone and the hungry blood hound that lives down the street. There are also some things like corrupted police men and the humans who can't stand anthros like me. I live in the rusty abandoned garage at the end of the road. It's not much, but I make the most of it.

I grabbed the handle on the garage door and managed to lift it a couple of feet. I slipped under the door an let it close behind me. I pulled the thin chain in the middle of the room and the light bulb hanging from the ceiling lit up, casting a dim glow on everything in the garage.

Most of it was full of spare parts that I was incorporating into my machines. In the corner of the room there was a pile of hay and wood chips that served as my bed, and there were metal boxes where I stored some of my tools and wires and stuff.

I got out the project I had been working on for the past few days and got to work. I recently found an old box of paperclips and decided to put my skills to the test, I was trying to build a TV.

I was busy stretching out the wires and connecting them together when something occurred to me. I would need a power source. I rolled my eyes, I guess I'll have to make another trip to the junkyard... I thought bitterly. I hated the junkyard because it attracted things like dogs and rats and spiders and snakes...

I wanted to finish my project though...

Going to the junkyard this late at night would be risky, but mechanics are all I'm good for...My entire life revolves around that skill, and if I gave up on something like this when I was so close...

I gathered my courage, and packed my rusty toolbox with a wrench, a screwdriver, and a crowbar. Then I slipped out of the garage as quietly as I could and made my way to the junkyard.

My stomach growled, and it made me realize I hadn't eaten anything in 2 days. I glanced in the window of a nice home where they were having a chicken dinner. I smelled it from the open window and my stomach twisted into painful knots as I left.

I reached the junkyard without too much trouble, although I was jumpy the whole time. I _really_ don't like rats or spiders, and I was downright terrified of snakes and dogs. I mostly just try to stay as quiet as possible and find hiding places where I can.

I immediately began searching for some kind of power core for my special device. I found a few things that might be promising, but most of what I found was either scrap metal, or it was just broken. I put these things in my toolbox, figuring I could make some use of them. I was looking specifically for a hover craft or a robot, something with an advanced power source, but I'd be lucky if I found something that wasn't completely busted.

It was starting to get dark and I still hadn't found anything really useful. I'd almost given up when I found something promising. It was an old convertible with leather seats. I opened up the engine and found the main power source, which was intact, and yeah, it was broken, but the damage didn't look horrible. I could fix it up!

I retrieved my crowbar from inside my toolbox and tried to free the engine. It took some effort, but I managed to pry the piece of machinery out of the car without making too much noise. It wouldn't fit in my toolbox, so I resorted to carrying it. As I turned away though, there was a big problem.

I had spent so much time getting a power core for my machine that I forgot the sun would set...

It was too dark to see anything...

I shivered in the cold and my stomach growled again. I was feeling sick. How would I get back? I didn't have my flashlight with me because I didn't want to get caught. How was I ever going to make it back!?

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, and began to slowly retrace my steps. Every once in a while, I'd step on something sticky or slimy and my stomach would turn. At one point, I felt something on one of my twin tails and I had to swallow my own heart to keep myself from screaming.

I also managed to run into something sharp from time to time, and I flinched at the unexpected pain. This was not a good place to be, especially at night. I also ran into a few dogs and would barely escape with my skin. I was so terrified the whole time, and I was just wishing I could be home already.

I finally escaped the junkyard and made it back onto the street where my garage was. I got inside and collapsed.

I held the power core close to me. Had it been worth it? I looked at my legs, which were badly cut from my escape. I also had a few dog bites, and oil had stained my orange fur. My shoes were covered with unidentified green and red goop. I felt my stomach flip again.

I bandaged my wounds to the best of my ability and scraped the goop off my shoes. I added some of my finds to my scrap pile, and put the power core next to my paper clip creation. I also made a mental note to bring my flashlight next time, the risk of getting caught would be better than _that._

I looked down at my stomach and noticed I was getting really thin. I hadn't been eating anything lately, and while I didn't eat much anyway, I just wasn't making enough money. I lay down on my bed and curled up into a ball. I was ready for this...it happened every night...

Tears filled my eyes and soaked into the fur on my muzzle. They fell slowly at first, but pretty soon they were like mini waterfalls. I whimpered under the pain in my chest and the hunger in my stomach. Just once, I'd like to fall asleep feeling warmth and not the biting cold of the old garage.

 _There it goes..._


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up to the familiar sensation of itchiness, a horrible taste in my mouth, and of course, the beeping noise of the alarm I built.

 _I have to go to work today..._ I felt terrible. I was cold and tired and dizzy and just wasn't in the mood for anything...

I forced myself to get up and pack my toolbox before leaving the old garage. I was cautious (as usual) because I know my orange fur is easy to spot, especially during the daytime when the sun was up. I was very conscious of my empty stomach, but I tried not to let it bother me.

When I got there, My boss was in his usual bad mood at his desk.

"Ah, Miles..." He stood up, "Come with me..."

I remembered he said he would test me, but I had no idea what kind of test it was. I knew I'd be able to do whatever he gave me, but I was still so nervous...

He led me into a room with lots of complicated tools and machinery. In the very center of the room was a bi-plane. It was terribly broken and in disrepair, but based on everything in the room, It could probably be fixed...

He turned to me, "Fix it..."

"What?"

"If you're really _such a good mechanic,_ you should be able to fix it!"

"I...um..." I wasn't sure, I had never seen so many complex machines before.

"DO IT!"

I looked at him in fear, and he smirked.

I took a deep breath, "Ok..."

He nodded, "You have five minutes!"

"Five minutes!?" But It was too late. He closed the door behind him and I heard the deadbolt click into place. I was trapped.

I shook my head and closed my eyes. I forgot about him, and the room. I pushed all those thoughts away and focused on the plane. The wings, the body, the cockpit...

 _I can do this!_

I looked at all the tools and pieces of machinery. I inspected them to make sure the plane would accept them and not malfunction. I put on my special mechanic gloves and began to look at what was wrong with the plane. The engine was completely busted. One of the wings was severely damaged, and the other had been set on fire.

I used one of the cores to replace the engine. Then I substituted an empty canister to hold the battery in place. I used loose wires to connect the circuits, and paper clips to hold the processors together. I also secured part of the motherboard to the GPS system along with the connectors in the motor drive.

By the time I was done, my gloves and shoes were covered in oil, and I was completely exhausted. It was way too hot in that cramped room with all the electronics and motors still running (Even though I _swear_ I fixed the AC _yesterday!_ ). With nothing else to do to pass the time, I set to work on my hand-held again.

After what was maybe 2 to 3 minutes, he came back in the room and his jaw dropped, "You actually did it!?"

I averted my gaze, choosing a random spot on the floor to stare at.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before he pulled out a few coins, "Here kid, you can go home for now. I need a while to think about this...I literally have nothing else for you since you've _done everything already..._ " He handed me the money and left the room, leaving the door open.

I smiled to myself, counting the money in my hand. It was a total of 76 cents, 3 quarters, and 1 penny. That meant I almost had a total of 12 dollars total! I almost had enough for a train ticket! Of course, I'd have to sneak by the security guards, but I'm used to stealth anyway.

I left work that day in pretty good spirits. I also remembered how long it had been since my last meal, (due to my stomach groaning in protest) so I decided to stop by the general store on my way home.

The biggest problem I had though was that it was getting close to noon, which meant it was bright, making it harder to sneak around all the street gangs and stuff. I did my best though, and managed to avoid them all. The worst of them didn't come out during the day anyway, so that made it a little easier.

I got to the general store without too much trouble, and since it was Friday, there were lots of things the storekeeper was just trying to get rid of before he could restock on Monday. But even with the price-drop, I could still only afford a stale loaf of bread. I put it in my toolbox and headed home.

When I got there, I took out the bread and dug into it with my teeth. It didn't taste very good and it was very hard, but I was too hungry to care. When I had eaten the whole thing, I was still very hungry. I hugged myself tightly and lay down on my side.

I caught sight of my project in the corner of the room. I really wanted to finish it...but I just didn't have the energy. I looked at the power core I had gone through so much trouble to collect, and the half-finished paper clip TV...

I pushed myself into a sitting position and got to work. I stretched out some more paper clips and used them to connect the power core to the TV, then I hooked up some more paper clips to the connector for the display. I didn't have any LEDs, so I shone light through some shards of glass.

When everything was in place, I added the final connector and flipped the switch. The shards of glass that acted as the pixels began to shine brightly and the lights danced across the screen.

 _I did it!_

I then started to experiment. I had the whole thing hooked up to my hand-held, so I was in complete control of the glowing display. I made the lights put on a show of multicolored brilliance that shone like the stars. I arranged them into patterns and shapes of all sizes, and I even made words display in a marquee, like _stars_ and _colors_ and _shapes._

It was then that I got an idea. I made my own name come on the display, and _Miles_ danced across the screen. But something weird happened...the screen glitched, and my name changed shape briefly before it dissolved into the rainbow of colors...

 _Tails._

I blinked. Tails? I had to admit...it had a nice ring to it...

 _Tails._

I smiled. Tails sounded better than Miles, maybe I'd call myself that...It reminded me of my birth defect; my twin tails...but somehow, calling myself Tails made it sound more like a gift, and less like a curse.

I nodded, _Tails it is then!_


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning feeling sick, and cold, and dizzy...I was also still super hungry. My throat was sore, and my face was all crusty from crying. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. I checked the calendar on my hand-held. It was Saturday, so I had woken up at 10:00 am. I also looked at the calendar, and realized it was October. That meant that winter was coming. It was getting colder.

Well, I had nothing to do that day, so I decided to go dumpster-diving for more scrap metal. It was also usually where I got food if I had no money to spare or if it was a weekend and no stores were open. I brought my toolbox with me, as well as a wooden clothes pin for my nose.

I left my garage and started searching for dumpsters. I noticed there were more street gangs out than usual, and avoiding them wasn't easy, but I pulled it off somehow.

I found a dumpster behind the general store. It smelled like there could be some old food in it and while it didn't smell appetizing, it was better than nothing.

I pinned the clothes pin to my nose and climbed in. It was full of actual garbage, but I also found a broken cell phone, an old keyboard, and a box of tooth picks. I also found some moldy cheese and bread crusts. I put those things in my toolbox. During this process though, I got tons of crap stuck in my fur, and just the sight of it made my stomach turn.

I climbed out of the dumpster and unpinned my nose...that was a bad idea, as the smell hit me hard and I pinned my nose again. I hurried home to try and scrub the disgusting stuff off, but I was cut short as I was heading through a dark alleyway.

"Hey!" It was a green hedgehog. He had icy-blue eyes and slash marks across his chest. He was wearing a black jacket and sunglasses, and his shoes were black and green. It was Scourge the Hedgehog.

My heart caught in my throat. I'd never been caught before by anyone, much less the worst bully in the universe. He was a member of 12 street gangs, and the leader of 5. He was also the richest person in town.

"Hmph, what's wrong punk? Cat got your tongue?"

I managed a small whisper, "Scourge..."

"Ah! So you've heard of me...I'm flattered that even the lowest class of peasants knows of my existence..."

I tried to sound brave, "What d'you want?"

"Oh...not much..." He began to pace around me and I was frozen in fear, "When's the last time you took a shower? You look like you've been crawling around in a dumpster! And what is that smell!?"

I said nothing.

He inhaled, "What I want is to have some fun. I'm bored, and I love the adrenaline rush I get when I have people begging for mercy..."

"Leave me alone!" My voice was shaking, but I hoped he couldn't tell.

"Pfff...why?"

"I-I..." I could feel goosebumps crawling up my arms and I began to tremble. I was terrified of street gangs, especially their leaders...I couldn't believe I let myself get caught by the worst of them! So I did the only thing I could think of...

I ran.

I turned and ran back the way I had come. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, but he was faster. He blocked my only path.

"Leaving so soon?"

I tried to get around him, but he was just too fast. He knocked me on the ground and as I landed, I heard a loud _crunch!_ and excruciating pain shot up my arm. He grabbed the fur on my chest and lifted me to meet his gaze, "I was just having fun! What's wrong with that?"

I tried to pull free, but his grasp was too strong. He threw me in the air and struck me with tons of force. He gave me a black eye and a bloody nose along with my limp and useless arm. There was no way I'd get out alive, he was going to kill me and there was nothing I could do to save myself!

Finally, I was beaten so badly I couldn't even lift a finger. Scourge was winding up for one final blow. I saw my life flash before my eyes, all the machines I'd created and all my accomplishments. I didn't want to die! I wanted to live my life even if I spent the rest of it trapped in this wasteland!

 _Goodbye, cruel world!_


	4. Chapter 4

I was about to die. I knew it was coming, I braced myself for it, the blow that would surly end my life...

But it didn't come.

I looked at Scourge, and found he was laughing. He dropped me on the ground, "That was too easy!" He gasped through his laughter, "But it was also pretty fun! Thanks kiddo!"

I tried to speak, but all I could manage was a soft moan.

"Now I gotta go home and wash all this muck off me, see ya!" And then he took off.

I could not move. I didn't have any strength. I was sore and dizzy and sick...I felt awful...and I was still so _terrified._ I couldn't move at all and I was afraid that something would come for me or something.

I was still completely stationary all day. I noticed the sun set and then rose again, which meant it was now Sunday. I'd need to go to work the next day, but more than that I was afraid that my broken arm would heal wrong if I didn't set the bone. I could only see clearly out of one eye as my other eye was swollen shut. I prayed that something wouldn't smell the blood and come after me, but I was safe the whole time. I'm just glad I couldn't see myself 'cuz I'm sure I looked absolutely terrible.

Finally, after the sun set again, I forced myself to sit up. my body screamed in protest, but I knew I couldn't stay out here forever. I found my toolbox nearby and tried to pick it up, but it was just too heavy for my aching muscles. I wrapped one arm around my stomach as it growled again and felt hot tears slide down my cheeks, but I did my best to ignore that as I resorted to dragging my toolbox along the ground with my good arm.

It took hours, but I inched my way back home. I barely got the garage door open long enough for me to get inside. _I'm home! I'm finally home!_

I wiped the tears from my face and got to work on my broken arm. I set the bone and wrapped it securely with an old scrap of fabric I found. I used another piece of cloth to tie it to my body in a sling, then I ate the bread crusts and the good parts of the moldy cheese. I was still hungry, but at least it was a little better.

I lay down on my bed, feeling defeated and ashamed. Every part of me hurt, and I was weak and sore, but at least I was in my garage, safe and sound.

Or as safe and sound as it _could_ be...

I didn't have any willpower left. I stared up at the ceiling and wondered if death would've been better. This last thought occurred to me before I drifted off into dreamland;

 _If this ever happens again, will I survive?_

* * *

I woke up feeling the usual grogginess I'd feel in the morning, except this time my muscles were sore, as well as my broken arm and black eye. I slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, then I looked at the clock on my hand-held.

8:15! I was 15 minutes late!

I quickly packed my toolbox and ran through the streets as fast as I could. I was a little hasty in my stealth, so I ended up going _slower_ than normal and getting to work at _9:00!_ And I have to say, My boss was upset;

"Prower! Where've you-" He paused when he saw me, "...been..."

"Sorry...I-I...uh, got in a fight..."

"You look terrible! Bah! Doesn't matter, I need to tell you something..."

"Hm?"

He smiled, a weird mischievous smile, "You're fired!"

"WHAT!?" I didn't see that coming...

"Yes! I've been looking for a mechanic to fix my airplane for years! And then I found you! Now I can get out of this horrid place!"

"You...you mean you used me?"

"Aw, don't cry kid!" he laughed, "Now get outta here!"

I could feel my heart beat slower and slower...my vision clouded up and my breathing was constricted. His smile just made me feel sick. I knew that I would never forget that horrible smile...

I ran all the way back to my garage and lay down on my bed. My stomach growled again and I noticed I was so thin now that I could see my ribs through my fur. That was not a good sign...I needed food!

I wanted to stay there forever, but I knew that I was too afraid to die, so I decided it was worth it to try and find something to eat. As I was leaving though, I caught sight of someone in the distance, he looked like Scourge, except he was blue. My heart lodged itself in my throat as I tried to hide behind a nearby garbage can, but it was too late. I listened to his footsteps get closer and my heart rate got faster as he approached. His footsteps stopped and I tried to steady my breathing.

"Hello? Someone there?" he paused a moment before he continued, "Look, I won't hurt you, I promise, ok?"

I don't know what made me do it, but I emerged from my hiding spot and turned to face him. He was a blue hedgehog with emerald-green eyes and bright red sneakers. He gasped in horror when he saw me.

"Are you ok!? You look horrible!" he exclaimed, "What on Earth happened to you!?"

"I...um..." I wasn't sure how to react. He almost sounded like he...cared, somehow...

"Can you tell me your name?" He said.

"Um...M-Miles P-Prower..." I stammered.

"Hmmm..." He cocked his head, "It alright if I call you Tails?"

Tails...that's right...that was my name...right?

"S-sure..." I manged a small smile.

He looked concerned, "Here..." He reached behind his back and pulled out a plastic bag with an uneaten chili-dog in it, "You can have this."

My eyes widened at the feast he was offering, "Th-That much food!? Are you sure!?"

He smiled and his eyes sparkled, "It _was_ my lunch...but I think you need it more than me! Just take it!" He took the food out from the plastic bag and offered it to me.

I cautiously took the chili-covered hot dog from him and took a big bite. It was a little spicy for my tastes, but I didn't care one bit. I finished it off and looked back at the hedgehog.

"Thank you..." I said.

He nodded, "Any time! So, where d'you live Tails?"

"Follow me." I walked back to the garage door and slipped inside. A moment later, the blue hedgehog joined me in the small room.

He stared, open-mouthed, "This is where you _live_?"

I nodded, "It's not much, but it's all I've got."

He looked at me but didn't say anything.

I decided he wouldn't bother me, so I took out my hand-held and began fiddling with it. (it was hard with only one arm, but I did it somehow...) I was just incorporating the cell phone from the dumpster into it to boost it's signal strength when the hedgehog spoke again, "I just realized I never told you my name!" He laughed and gave a thumbs-up, "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

I thought a moment before I spoke again, "I haven't seen you around here before Sonic...what brought you to this terrible place?"

He sighed and sat down on the floor across from me, "I didn't mean to. My airplane crashed. I got it to a mechanic, but apparently, I'm not the only one here who wants to leave!"

I froze.

"An airplane?"

"Y...yeah...?"

I looked right at him, "Was it a red biplane?"

His eyes grew wide, "Yeah, how d'you know?"

"I'm the mechanic who fixed it!" I face-palmed, "Ugh! I'm so stupid!"

"What?"

"My boss had a job for me! I fixed the plane and today I lost my job! He's left in it by now!"

"Are you kidding me!?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to strand you here!"

"I'm not mad at you, it wasn't your fault! You had no idea!"

I heard voices outside and put my hand over Sonic's mouth to silence him. I carefully put a finger to my lips to show that he should be quiet. I blushed a little when he wiped the grime from my hand off his face.

When the voices had passed, I whispered, "That was probably a street gang, we need to be quiet so they don't catch us."

"But I'm not afraid of street gangs." He whispered back.

"Trust me, they will mess you up no matter how strong you are."

"Is that what happened to you?"

I nodded.

"I'm sorry..."

I got back to my project, but I found it hard to concentrate with Sonic getting up and pacing around the cluttered room. He looked like he was lost in thought. When he spoke again, he sounded sad and defeated, "Can I stay here for the night?"

His question caught me off-guard, "Sure...do you not have a place to stay?"

He shook his head.

"Well, I don't mind. How long are you going to stay?"

"As long as it takes to get the heck outta here!"

I found a spark of hope and asked, "W-when you leave...is...is it alright if I come with you?"

He looked at me, his gaze full of compassion. A genuine smile crept onto his face, "Absolutely!"

I beamed. Not only had I found a friend, but I had also found a way to escape! It felt so good to smile! I hadn't done it in so long!

"Thank you!" I said through misty eyes, "I can finally get out of here!" Before I knew what I was doing, I had my good arm around him in a sort of half-hug.

He was stiff for a moment, but then he relaxed and hugged me back. He was somewhat hurting my broken arm, but I didn't care. I now had a friend, the only friend I ever had.

I didn't quite know it at the time, but the deep abyss in my heart was slowly beginning to heal.


	5. Chapter 5

I couldn't believe it! Not only did I have someone to drown out the maddening silence of the cold garage, but I had someone to talk to! I tried to explain how some machines worked to Sonic, and while he acted like he was listening, his eyes were glazed over, and I knew he was thinking of other things.

I could tell Sonic used to live in luxury, but slowly he was getting thinner and dirtier. It was hard enough to try and feed myself, but now I had to feed Sonic too. And I was worried about his health because he was always eating less to make sure _I_ had enough to eat. He also insisted that I sleep on my bed while he slept on the concrete floor, and before long, Sonic looked just as sick and hungry as me, though I was still worse due to my injuries.

Then one day, Sonic said out of the blue, (no pun intended) "Let's go for a walk."

"Huh?"

"C'mon!" He said, grabbing my good arm (which was healing nicely by the way).

He half led half dragged me to the junkyard, "I wanna show ya somethin'!"

"Wait! Not the junkyard! If we're caught there-"

"Oh, pish-posh!" he said in a mock British accent, "We'll be fine!"

"B-but!"

"Hurry up slow-poke!"

"Wait!" I pulled out of his grasp and stared into his eyes. I began to tremble fearfully, and my knees grew weak.

He looked at me as realization dawned on him, "You're afraid..."

I averted his gaze, "I'm terrified..." I breathed, "I...I've been living in fear my entire life...I-I can't do it...I'm sorry..." I buried my face in my hands as I started to cry. Memories from the last time I was in the junkyard came flooding back and my tears fell faster.

Sonic wrapped his arms around me, "Listen Tails..." He was a little taller than me, and my face was against his bare chest. I could hear his heart beating, and it was very calming somehow, "I get that you're scared...but you just have to trust me, alright?" he pulled away a little so he could look into my eyes, "Do you trust me?"

I stared into his eyes. They were open and honest. I felt like I was staring right through him and into his heart. He was just so...I don't know...trustworthy.

I buried my face in his chest, "You're the best friend ever!"

He laughed and let go of me, "Come on! I'll protect you!" He said, running away.

"Hey!" I laughed, "Wait up!" I tackled him and we were sent tumbling down the hill. It felt amazing to laugh, like a ginormous weight was lifted off my chest. I pinned him down with my good arm across his neck, "Gotcha!"

"Hey! No fair!" He laughed, "Lemme go!"

I stood up, still laughing. I offered my hand and helped him stand up.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" he said, grinning.

"I-I never knew...It felt so good to laugh!"

"It's a pleasant surprise, isn't it?"

"Yeah! Now I don't want to stop!"

"C'mon! We're almost there!" He gently guided me to the junkyard. It was exactly the same, but somehow, it seemed less scary.

"Watch..." Sonic whispered. He stared eagerly into the distance, like he was waiting for something. I looked in that direction, but there was nothing exciting about it. _What on Earth is he waiting for?_ I thought to myself.

I got my answer.

It turns out we were facing west, where the sun was setting. I stared in wonder as the sky turned into an array of colors. But why the junkyard? We could see the sunset anywhere, why here?

Again, I got my answer. It turns out the shards of glass and reflective surfaces bent the light waves and caused everything to have their own special rainbow. It made everything look like it was sprinkled with fairy dust. I had never looked at anything like this before, much less the junkyard.

Sonic looked at me and I realized my mouth was hanging open. I closed it and blushed, "This is so beautiful..." I breathed.

Sonic looked ahead at the beauty and sighed, "Yeah...it is..."

I continued to look at the beauty for a while longer before I noticed something weird...like there was strain in the air...like someone was watching us...

"Oh no..."

"What's wrong, Tails?"

I started to panic, "We have to go. Now."

"Why? What's wrong?"

Next thing I knew, I heard a gunshot and pain filled my side, "Ahhh!"

"Tails! _No!_ "

I fell over and Sonic caught me, "No no no..." He held me close to him as a man emerged from the shadows.

"Get out! Before I cut ya spleen open!"

"He's drunk..." I whispered, "Look at the way he's hobbling."

Sonic grit his teeth and looked at the man with scorn.

"Ya bunch o' bildrats! I'll show ya what a _real_ dinosaur can do! Tha's right! I's from the mighty seas!"

"Sonic! _Run!_ "

Sonic jumped up and tried to run away, but the man shot again and Sonic fell over, his deep blue fur was now stained with red.

"Git back 'ere ya varmints! I'll blow ya apart faster than you can say, 'silver'!"

"It's no use..." Sonic said, "I'll have to run at top-speed..."

"You can't! You'll burn calories faster! You might starve!"

He looked me right in the eye, "That's a risk I'm willing to take...Ready?" He tucked me under his arm and got up on one knee, "On the count of three..."

"Git ova he'!"

"One..."

"I'll shootcha again! This laser machine gun here's loaded!"

"Two..."

I closed my eyes. I knew he would go extremely fast...

"Three!" He took off at the speed of sound, leaving behind a sonic boom and making my stomach lurch.

About half a second later, It was over...

We were back at my garage. Sonic climbed inside and lay me on my bed. The bullet had hit on my left side under my arm, close to my heart. I could also see that Sonic had been hit in his thigh right above his right knee.

"Phew! That was way too close..." said Sonic, "He coulda killed you, Tails!"

I sighed, "I know..."

Thinking fast, Sonic took off his gloves and used them to apply pressure to my bullet wound in order to get it to stop bleeding.

"Ow...Sonic..."

"It's ok Tails...you'll be fine..."

"I don't care..."

He looked right at me and his expression softened, "I'll be fine too, ok? So don't worry..."

I tried to make my breathing even, "What's gonna happen?"

Sonic averted my gaze for a moment before he spoke again, "I don't know Tails...but we'll get outta here, ok? I promise."

"That's a big promise..." I pointed out.

"Yeah..." Sonic found a place to stare at and we were silent for a few moments, "Well, you'll be happy to know that I don't break my promises."


	6. Chapter 6

Ever since our desperate escape, Sonic has lost a lot of weight, and it bothers me a lot. He shouldn't have broken the sound barrier that day, and he _still_ eats less than me. It was almost December, and snow is starting to fall. It makes the whole garage even colder than before, and I have to curl up in a ball to stay warm. Sonic has lost some of the sparkle in his eyes, and he just overall looks very sick.

I was working on my wireless-connection router, when Sonic entered the garage and said, "How's your arm?"

I looked at him, "It-it's fine...why?"

He sighed sadly, "I want to make sure it's healing ok..."

I looked down at my arm. It hadn't been hurting, in fact, I had gotten used to using one arm. I ran my finger along the make-shift bandage I had made for myself nearly 2 months ago, "Yeah...I think it's healing ok..."

He nodded, "Cool..."

It was then that I realized how sad he looked. His eyes were cast downward, which themselves were closer to deep jade than emerald, "Is something bothering you?"

"What? No I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be fine? heheh..." He faked a smile.

"Mmmhmm...sure..." I rolled my eyes.

His smile fell and he averted my gaze. His eyes searched the perimeter of the room before settling on my hand working on the machine. After another few minutes, he crawled over to me and gently settled his hand on my broken arm, "May I?"

"Uh, sure..."

He carefully undid the sling and unwrapped my arm. He tested the bend of my elbow and said, "Does it hurt?"

"No..."

He nodded, "It's healed really well...can you move it?"

I waved it in the air. It was a little thin because I hadn't used it in a while, and it was still a little sore, but other than that it had completely healed.

"How'd it heal so fast?" I muttered to myself.

"Beats me..." Sonic said. He began to nervously pace around the room.

"What is it Sonic?"

"I...I found a way out!"

"What!?"

"I just wanted to be sure...you were ok...before we left..."

"And that's why you checked my arm...Oh Sonic! That's fantastic! We can finally leave!" I said beaming.

"Yeah...see, about that..." He seemed like something was really bugging him.

My smile fell, "What's wrong?"

"Ummm..." He scratched his head, "You're not going to like this..."

"Ugh! What!?"

"We have to fight our way out!" He said.

My breath caught in my throat, "We have to fight?"

He looked down, "I said you wouldn't like it..."

"What happened while you were gone?"

"See, I came across this barrier. But it wasn't a barrier made of steel or concrete...no, turns out the only reason we can't leave is because someone doesn't want us to leave and has surrounded this place with robots. I have a plan, but again, I don't think you'll like it..."

I gulped, "What is it?"

"Ok, you'll build us communicators so we can talk to each other. Then we'll overrun them from two different angles; I'll create a distraction while you sneak around from behind and get out. Once you've found a way out, you'll tell me with the communicator where the opening is so that I can get out the way you did. It's risky, I know, but it's our best chance."

"Are you insane!? That's practically a suicide mission! We can't overrun them, they're too strong!"

"I know it's insane, and so am I, but you're just going to have to trust me..." He looked me right in the eye, "Do you trust me?"

I thought for a moment. This would be the craziest thing I had ever done, but it wasn't a bad idea. And even if it was, I was more than ready to do whatever it took to get out of this prison...to escape...

To be free...

I felt determination settle in me before I said, "Yes..."


	7. Chapter 7

Sonic had left to find some more food, while I did my best to put the communicators together. It was too late to leave today, so we were planning to leave the next morning at sunrise. I used an old mint container to hold all the circuits and stuff and the loose cloth that had been holding my arm in place while it healed for the strap that would wrap around the wrist. I was just putting the final touches on one of them when Sonic returned.

"Whew! Check out what _I_ found!" Sonic had brought back a bag of sliced turkey.

"Whoa! Where d'you get that?"

"It fell out of a supply truck!" He opened the bag and split it in half, "Want some?"

I noticed that once again, my portion was bigger than his, "Only if it's fair..."

He sighed, "Fine..." He put the sliced pieces back together and split them evenly.

"Thank you." I took the meat from him and ate it.

Sonic ate his too and said, "You done with those yet?"

"Hold on!" I laughed, "This could take all night!"

"I'll wait..."

"Yeah...sure..." I said sarcastically.

Sonic sat in the corner of the room and began to rock back and forth.

"You alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Liar..."

"What?"

"You're a liar..."

His eyes widened a bit, "No I'm not..."

"Yes you are..."

"No I'm not.."

"Yeah...you actually are..."

"No, I seriously am not..."

"Well I'm saying you are!"

"And I'm sayin' I'm not!"

"Fine! Don't talk to me..." I bent down and continued to work on the communicator, making sure I didn't make eye-contact with Sonic.

"Hmph..." Sonic lay down on his back and put one foot on his knee and both hands behind his head.

I was still mad at him by the time I finished both communicators, when it was 11:30 pm. I yawned and lay down on my bed. It felt good to have my other arm back. It made my work a lot faster. I had almost fallen asleep when Sonic suddenly spoke;

"Tails..." He whispered, "I'm sorry...I really am..."

I glanced over at him. He was still looking up at the ceiling, but his expression had softened significantly and the sadness had returned to his eyes. But...he looked like his mind was somewhere else, and it kind of put me on edge. He also looked like he felt really guilty.

I still felt like he was hiding something, but I said, "It's ok..."

* * *

 _I was walking through a field. There were flowers and trees and butterflies and honeybees. Right in front of me was a park table with food on it. Tons of food. There was chicken, beef, and turkey as well as mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, peas, macaroni and cheese, and lots of others. It was a feast!_

 _I began to eat the amazing food. However, when I was almost full, I looked down and realized the food I had been eating had been filled with hot metal. I began to cough as the metal in my stomach burned my throat and seeped into my lungs. It hardened and scraped and cut everything inside of me. All my organs were bleeding intensely and I leaned over and started throwing up all of my blood._

 _The green grass of the field all turned red as far as the eye could see, and the sky darkened to black, with the clouds becoming dark crimson. I kept throwing up until I had none left, until my skin was pale as the full moon, until I could feel myself becoming hollow. I felt my skin burn off as I became nothing but a dry skeleton..._

 _And I could remember...the horrible pain..._

"Tails! Wake up!"

I screamed and sat up. I hugged myself, feeling my skin and fur were exactly as they should be. I felt no pain, just the dull throbbing of my own head. Sonic was there, and he looked worried.

"Are you ok? You looked like you were in pain..."

I wrapped my arms around Sonic and cried into his shoulder, "That was horrible! I thought my flesh was burning off!"

"It's ok, it was just a dream, your safe now..." He stroked my back as he tried to comfort me.

"It was more than a dream...it was a nightmare..."

"I know...but you're ok now...alright? I won't let you get hurt..." He dropped to a whisper, "I won't let anything happen to you..."

I was quiet. I didn't want to disturb the silence. After a little while, I finally said, "Thanks, Sonic..."

"No problem..." He pulled away, "Come on, It's almost time to go...so pack your stuff...ok?"

I nodded. I packed my toolbox with all the little gadgets I had created, as well as most of the bigger stuff, like my paper clip TV (although I had to leave the power source behind since it was too big). Sonic slipped through the door and as I was leaving myself, I looked back at the small room. I couldn't believe this was the last time I'd ever see it. It was a weird feeling...like I was leaving a piece of myself behind.

"Goodbye, old friend..." I whispered.


	8. Chapter 8

I joined Sonic outside, and we carefully made our way to the front gate. There was an actual wall around the city, but it wasn't strong. The real reason people were trapped here was the security guards. They were robots trained to kill.

"Ready?" Sonic whispered.

"Yeah...be careful." I replied.

"Relax, I'll be fine..." He jumped out from his hiding place and waved his arms in the air, "Hey! Over here you tin cans!"

The robots started to chase him, and I ran to the gate. I hooked a metal wire to the lock and sent and electric charge through it. It burned out and the door slid open.

I pressed the button on the communicator, "Sonic! I got through the door! Come on!"

Nothing happened for several minutes.

"Sonic? Sonic! Are you ok!?" I started to become frantic. Was Sonic ok? I continued to call for him, but he wouldn't respond. I knew he could hear me, and I knew he could respond, so why wasn't he?

"Oh hohoho!" I looked up to find a fat man with a mustache in a hovering device, and seated next to him was...

Sonic.

"I'm afraid your friend wasn't truthful with you!" He sneered.

"What? Sonic! You betrayed me!?"

"No! Uh...I mean...yes...but it's not what you think!"

"How could you!?"

"I did this for you, Tails!"

"What do you mean!?"

I saw someone emerge from behind the hover-craft flying with some kind of rocket boots.

It was my old boss.

"Remember me, Prower?"

"What the heck are you doing here!?" I exclaimed in surprise.

Suddenly, he melted away, like he was made of metal. The liquid mass rejoined itself so it looked like Sonic, except he was a robot.

The fat man laughed maniacally, "Not bad, Metal Sonic!"

"M-Metal Sonic!?"

Sonic jumped down and faced me, "Tails...let me explain..."

I glared at him, still hurt, "I'm listening..."

"That guy is Dr. Eggman. He came to me yesterday and told me he would kill you unless I made a deal with him. He said that if I betrayed you and gave myself up, he would let you go-"

"You really are insane..." I said darkly, "You promised we would get out _together!_ And besides, you said you wouldn't let me get hurt! Remember!?"

He looked at the ground, ashamed, "I'm sorry Tails, but what choice did I have? Why would I let anything happen to you?"

I continued to stare daggers at him. Sonic _had_ been jittery for a while...and last night when he said he was sorry, he wasn't talking about our fight...

He was talking about his betrayal...

I was ready to unleash all my crushed feelings when Dr. Eggman spoke again, "Oops! Did I forget the fine print?"

Sonic turned to him, "What?"

He grinned, "I forgot to mention the last tiny part of the deal...I said that if you betrayed your friend, I would let him go..."

"Yes?" Sonic started to look worried.

"...as a robot." and just like that, I was whisked off the ground.

"NO!" Sonic screamed.

"I think you'll learn Sonic..." Eggman said, "That I don't keep my promises!"

I was carried away. I couldn't see anything, as I was too sick and dizzy. The last thing I remember was the vision of the hot metal from my nightmare...

The one that had tried to warn me...

* * *

I woke up on an exam table with my hands, feet, and tails tied down with metal cords. My whole body was numb, except for the top half of my head, which included my eyes and ears. Dr. Eggman was hunched over me with strange metal tools in his hands.

"Ah! You're awake!" He said, "Does anything hurt?"

I spoke as best as I could, since my mouth was numb. My voice came out thick and gravelly, "Why d'you care?"

"I want to make sure everything's working properly." He said simply.

I glared, "No...in fact, I feel numb..."

"Excellent!" He reached for another metal tool, "Everything's going according to plan...I just need to attach this last piece..."

"What're you talking about?" I felt a weird tingly sensation in the back of my head.

"Perfect! I'm almost done..."

"Are you turning me into a robot?"

"Yes..."

I thought for a moment, "Can you just hurry?"

He eyed me strangely, "You're not worried?"

"No...well..." I looked away, "I still feel horrible for Sonic betraying me, even if it was the only thing he could've done...robots don't feel pain, right?"

"No, they don't...heheh...alright, I'll hurry..."

I tried to breathe, but I found my chest was frozen, like I was never meant to inhale air at all. I didn't feel the need to breathe. I didn't feel like my heart was meant to beat. I didn't feel the need for anything like that.

I did however feel the need to charge in order to keep circuits running, I felt like I needed programming to remain secure, and I felt the need to set proxy settings and maybe make a PIN code or a password to keep people out. I also began to feel the rest of my head grow numb, and I lost the need to blink.

I tried to swallow, but I found I couldn't do that either, "Are you almost done?"

"Yes..." Eggman typed something into a nearby computer, and flipped a switch on my back. I felt my emotions draining away. I forgot what it was like to be sad, or happy, or frightened, or angry. All I felt was the whirring of my motor in my ears, and the processing of a database in my motherboard.

 _Eggman is your master. You will obey no other. You will do whatever he says without question. You are his slave._

I don't know who said that, but I believed him.

My voice had become monotone and robotic, "What would you like me to do, Doctor?"

Eggman grinned and let my bounds loose. I jumped off the exam table and faced him, waiting for his command. His voice was smooth and cool, "How do you feel, Tails?"

I continued to look at him. I didn't feel the need to say anything, but he had asked a question, and I was to answer, so I said, "I feel great, Doctor."

"Oh hoho! Fantastic! I have a favor to ask..."

I leaned forward slightly, eager to please him.

"I need you to go kill Sonic for me...being destroyed by your best friend is the perfect way to get rid of him!"

Sonic? The name sounded familiar, but I didn't care. Whoever this Sonic was, he was going to die, "What does he look like, Doctor?"

He turned back to the computer and started typing on it. A picture of a blue hedgehog appeared on the giant screen.

This hedgehog defiantly seemed familiar, I wasn't sure how, but either way, he was doomed.

I nodded, "Yes, Doctor...your command is my will..."


	9. Chapter 9

While I was looking for Sonic, I discovered that I could fly if I twirled my tails around like helicopter blades. I also discovered that I could go at incredible speeds if I spun them like propellers on a boat. _Who knew my tails were so useful?_ I thought.

I found him in a field, trying to run away. He looked like he was close to starvation, and it was clear that he was exhausted.

When Sonic saw me, he looked at me in horror, "Oh no...Tails, what has he done to you!?"

"What do you mean?" I said.

He flinched when he heard my voice, "Tails...I'm so sorry! This is all my fault..."

"Don't be. I feel fantastic." I said non-nonchalantly, "Eggman wants me to kill you."

"And you're going to do it?" He said.

"Yes."

"Oh...no..." He buried his face in his hands.

I made my arm transform into a cannon and aimed it at him, "Prepare to die."

He glanced at me, and I fired. Sonic easily dodged my laser, and began to run

around me, despite his obvious hunger. I kept firing, but Sonic continued to dodge. Finally, I got a hit on him and he collapsed, gasping heavily.

I walked up to him, and he turned so he was lying on his back. My cannon fire had given him third-degree burns on his chest. I put the end of my cannon against his heart and prepared a charged attack.

"Tails..." Sonic gasped, "...you don't...have to...do this..."

"But I want to."

"No...you don't..." He looked right into my glassy, emotionless eyes, "...you don't...want to...kill me. You know...I'm still...your best friend. Tails...I'm so...so sorry...for everything...for fighting...for betraying you...for letting you turn into a robot." He paused, "I'm such a terrible friend...I should've just kept Eggman away from you...I should've protected you _and_ your feelings...I should've spared you those feelings of hatred and anger..."

Someone broke free from my programming...the person I was before, "Sonic...I...I..."

"Tails..."

I looked at him intently.

"Do you...trust me?"

I felt my insides burn away...color was slowly returning to my eyes, and my circuits and robotic parts became useless...I felt the need to breathe, and blink, and swallow. I was not a robot, I was a fox, a fox made of flesh and blood.

And then...my heart started to beat again...

"Sonic..." I was not a robot anymore, I just looked like one.

"Tails!" He hugged me tightly, and I hugged him back.

"What!? No!" I snapped my head up to find Eggman, "How is that possible!? I used everything!"

"Sorry Egghead!" Sonic stood up, "Looks like you're out of tricks!"

"Grrr...not quite..." He took a drill out from his Egg mobile and drilled it into the ground. It split apart, and it revealed that the ocean was underneath. We weren't in a field! It was a fail safe!

Eggman threw the drill down before we fell, and it landed on my tails. I cried out in pain as me and Sonic were thrown off the side of the cliff. I grabbed a loose tree root with one hand and Sonic's arm with the other. Sonic looked down at the water fearfully, which made it clear that he couldn't swim. Rubble was tumbling down the side of the cliff, and I soon grew tired of holding Sonic.

Sonic looked up at me, "Let go Tails..."

"What!? Never!" I slipped just then, and gripped Sonic's arm tighter to make sure he didn't fall. His arm was covered in scraps from the metal on my hands. I tried not to think about it.

Sonic grit his teeth, "Listen Tails! I want you to let go of me! You have to save yourself! You can't hold on to me forever!"

"Yes I can!"

"Tails! Let go!"

"No! You're my best friend! We have to leave together!" More rubble fell from the side of the cliff and flew into my eyes. I tried to blink, "We still have to keep your promise!"

"Tails! That root won't hold out much longer! If you let go of me, you'll be able to climb the side of the cliff and get away!"

I started to cry, "No! I can't! You showed me happiness! You showed me love and compassion! You showed me how to be brave!" My tears fell onto Sonic's face, so it looked like he himself were crying, "You taught me how to believe in myself..."

Sonic smiled, "Then continue to believe in yourself...you deserve it...let go, Tails..."

I continued to cry, "I-I can't..."

"Suit yourself..." He reached up with his other hand and quickly pried my fingers off his arm...and he fell.

" _NO!_ " I screamed. He fell into the ocean and sank like a stone. I was frozen in place for a moment before I realized if I didn't act fast I would fall too. I hoisted myself up and quickly scaled the cliff-side before it had a chance to collapse.

I cried the whole time, and my tears joined Sonic in the ocean as I cried more and more. I spotted my toolbox a few yards away, and I was touched that Sonic bothered to bring it with him. I collected it before it could fall into the ocean.

I lay on my stomach under a nearby tree. I looked at my twin tails, which were now broken. I rolled over so I was laying on my side and looked in my toolbox. It still had everything in it, including the old circuits I was planning on using in the future. _If only I were a machine too,_ I thought, _I could fix myself and go save Sonic..._

Wait a minute...I _am_ a machine! I was so focused on having an actual consciousness that I forgot that I was still physically a machine. I felt a smile creep onto my face behind the metal. I took out my tools and got to work on fixing my tails. I found the damage wasn't too bad, and now that I had both my arms back and fully-functional, it was even easier. The biggest problem I had was that my nerve endings had started working again and I had to force myself to keep working because feeling had come back to my tails.

When they were fixed, I twirled them around and the force lifted me off the ground. I flew off the cliff and entered the cold water. I used my tails to propel me through the water like a submarine. When I didn't find him, I came back to the surface for air. I was starting to loose hope. I knew he was alive, because his body wasn't floating on the surface of the water. Even _I_ knew that dead bodies float, and live bodies sink. But What if I failed to find him? What if I didn't find him in time?

I pushed those thoughts away and dove again. I swam as fast as I could to the sea floor and started searching for Sonic. I finally found him, but he was too far away and was running out of air. I hated myself for it, but I returned to the surface for air. I swam closer to Sonic and dove one last time. I found him and wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him out of the water.

I carried him to the same spot under the tree and lay him on his back. I could tell he'd tried to get up, but he just couldn't make it to the surface in time. I started to administer CPR to get the water out of his lungs, but after 2 or 3 rounds, I was beginning to wonder if I was too late.

On the 4th round, Sonic started coughing. He leaned to the side and salty sea water poured out of his mouth. He coughed a few more times before he spoke, his voice raspy from having salt water in his lungs, "Tails?"

I beamed, "Sonic! I saved you!" I started jumping up and down excitedly, "I saved you! I saved you!"

"You sure did buddy...mind telling me how? I thought your tails were broken..."

"Sure. I realized after I got out that I was still a machine on the outside! So I used my skills in mechanics to fix myself!" I explained.

"You fixed yourself?" He stood up and coughed again, "That's cool I guess...but Eggman still has our plane, and I want it back!"

"Yeah! I worked hard on fixing it!"

"Well, " Sonic chuckled, "I guess I _did_ keep our promise after all!"

"Oh? Hey, I've got an idea!" I grabbed Sonic's hand and lifted him into the air.

"Whoa! Go higher!" So I flew up higher, high enough that we could see half the state, "Go over there!" He pointed to a big city in the distance. I flew over to it, and after we landed Sonic sighed, "I never thought I'd see this place again!"

"Where are we?" I asked, "This place looks so friendly!"

"Tails, " Sonic bowed, "Welcome to my home of Station Square!"

"Station Square?"

"Yeah! You'll like it here Tails...I can already tell..."

I smiled, "I think so too..."

"Come on! Let's stop by my place so we can get some money!"

"Ok!"

Sonic doesn't really have much of a house, but he says he's barely around anyway because he's always out on adventures. Sonic bought himself some food and we looked around a bit. Sonic and I also found a place where we could wash the grime out of our fur. I was surprised to find out that my fur was actually closer to yellow than it was to orange. I had never really known because it was always so dirty.

"So." Sonic said, "How do you like Station Square so far?"

"I love it! There are no street gangs, or blood hounds, or corrupt cops...I love it sooo much!"

Sonic laughed, "I knew you would! This is your home now! I collect plenty of rings around here, which is what they use as currency. We can buy parts and stuff, I swear, you will never want again!"

"I stopped wanting when we met!" I said, "but maybe we can get rid of my robotic parts..."

"Say no more, my furry friend! We'll get everything that you need for de-robotization!"

I smiled and hugged him. He hugged me back, "Ya know Tails...you're the best friend I've ever had..."

I buried my face in his shoulder, "Same to you Sonic..."


	10. Chapter 10

I stuck a screwdriver into my arm, then winced at the unexpected pain. I tried to move it around in a circle, but my shoulder got stuck because of all the rust.

"Sonic!" I said, "Can you grab the oil can!?"

"Sure!" Came his reply.

I was frozen like that for another 20 or so seconds before Sonic actually showed up with the can, "What took so long?" I said.

He shrugged, "Couldn't find it." He handed me the oil, and I put a few drops of the stuff on my shoulder to loosen it. It had been a few weeks since Eggman had turned me into a robot, and I was still getting used to it.

"Why d'you suppose Eggman tried to make me kill you instead of doing his own dirty work?"

Sonic thought a moment, "It's prob'ly cuz he knew I wouldn't fight against you, whereas, if he tried to do it himself, I would've fought back without a second thought."

I considered this, "Good point."

Sonic sat down next to me, "Sooo...have ya figured how to change back to normal?"

I sighed sadly, "No...I wish I had some kind of hint, any kind at all...but de-robotization is hard..."

"I can imagine..."

It was true. I was a robot. My orange fur was covered in metal, and my internal organs had been replaced with robotic processors. I had my normal mind back, (thanks to Sonic) and the white fur on my muzzle, chest, and the tips of my twin-tails were spared in the transformation. Everything else, even my eye lids, were covered in metal.

I twirled my arm around again, "Being a robot is such a pain!" I complained.

Sonic smiled, "Hey, it could be worse! I could be dead, and you could be working for Eggman!"

"I guess, but I wish I could just...go back to normal..."

He pat my shoulder, "Hey, don't worry about it. We'll find a way, alright?"

I smiled, "Ok..."

Suddenly, we heard an explosion. It had come from the city!

"Come on!" Sonic took off running, and I followed close behind, using my twin-tails to propell myself forward.

We arrived, and everything was in chaos! There was fire and burning and stuff was melting. It was like a firey oblivion!

"Oh, hohoho! Come to join the fun?" It was none other than Eggman flying in his Egg Mobile.

"Eggman! What've you _done_ to this place!?"

"Oh, just having a little fun...Sonic...look at my new trick!" he pushed a button on his dashboard and searing pain filled my body.

"AHHH!" I screamed and fell to the ground.

"Tails!" Sonic cried, "What did you do to him Eggman!?"

"Oh, come on! It's just an EMP! Nothing to be afraid of or anything..." Eggman said, "Unless of course you're a robot! Oh! Hohoho!"

" _Tails!_ " Sonic picked me up carefully, "Are you ok?"

I could see smoke rising from my burnt electronics, when I spoke, my voice was broken up and full of static, "So-oni-ic..."

"No..." Sonic put me down and faced Eggman. He jumped in the air and struck Eggman with his Homing Attack, then he spun around and used his Flying Kick to send Eggman out of the city.

Sonic picked me up and ran back to our hide-away. He didn't know what to do about my burns though, Sonic isn't a whiz with electronics like I am.

"Tails...I'm really sorry..."

"I-it's o-ok..." I was still struggling to talk around my shattered voice box, which kept glitching, "It wa-asn't your fa-ault..."

"Is there anything I can do?"

I hugged myself, "N...no...ju-ust...let me re-est..."

I heard thunder before I realized it had started to rain outside. I groaned.

Sonic looked out at the rain before glancing back at me, "Wanna go out?"

"In the ra-ain?" I said.

"You don't like rain?"

I shook my head.

"Please? It'll help take your mind off the...whatever Eggman did..."

Before I knew what was happening, Sonic was dragging me off.

"Ah! So-onic!"

"Come on! Just run!"

I had no choice but to follow Sonic outside. By now, the rain was pouring down like waterfalls, and I was already soaked.

Sonic let go of me and threw himself into the wet grass. He rolled over so he was on his back and spread his arms out. He closed his eyes as rain soaked into his fur, and he smiled.

I looked up at the clouds. They were a deep grey color. I lay down next to Sonic and watched the rain fall.

"Hey Sonic..."

"Yeah?"

I sighed, "Does it always rain like this?"

"No...but when it does...heheh...I take advantage of it..."

"You like being in the rain?"

"Yeah!" he turned his head so he could look at me, "Rain is soothing...it sounds nice, and it feels good against your skin..." he looked upward again and watched the rain for a bit before closing his eyes again, "I like it..."

I smiled, "I never thought about that before...I always thought of the rain as...well...something depressing..."

"Yeah?" Sonic stood up and looked upward again. The rain continued to fall until it made puddles in the grass.

I sat up and shivered, "C-can we go back now?"

"Sure." Sonic extended his hand and I took it. After he helped me stand up, we walked for awhile longer in the rain and I tried my best not to shiver violently. I was sore from Eggman's EMP, and I still felt something missing.


	11. Chapter 11

"You feeling alright?"

"Huh? Yeah...I ju-ust..." I tried not to let my voice glitch again, "...I..."

"Tails..."

"I don't kno-ow..."

"Then let me ask you this. What's an EMP?"

"Electro-magnetic pu-ulse." I said, "It's a kind of pulse that fries electro-onics, including mechs and robots..."

"Oh. Ya think Eggman has a machine like that?"

"No doubt..." I shivered again, "I'll bet Eggman hasn't given up on me being his sla-ave!"

"Well, don't worry about that...I'll protect you."

We walked through the rain in silence for awhile before I sneezed, "It's so co-old!"

Sonic put one arm over my shoulder and pulled me closer, "Better?"

"A li-ittle..." I said.

When we got back to our hide-out, I opened my tool box and pulled out a screwdriver. I loosened the screws around my throat and pulled out my voice-box. I found the EMP had fried the main speech-synthesizer, which explained the glitches in my voice. I set to work on fixing it.

"What're you doing?" Sonic asked.

I pointed to my voice box and gestured that I was fixing it.

"Are you fixing the glitches in your voice?"

I nodded.

"Ah..." Sonic faced the rain outside and sat down. It was still pouring, and I was pretty sure it wouldn't stop anytime soon.

I was almost done with my voice box when Sonic suddenly stood up, "I've got it!"

I looked at him expectantly.

"We can get the Chaos Emeralds!" he turned to me, "Don't you get it!?"

I shook my head.

"Seriously? Ok...the Chaos Emeralds are _huge_ sources of power! I bet if we collected all seven...yes! Yes!"

I rose an eyebrow.

"Tails, d'you have anything that could detect power?"

I shrugged.

"I bet you could build something like that and..yes! We could turn you back to normal! We could-"

I banged my foot on the ground.

"Right..sorry..."

I finished fixing my voice box and put it back inside me, "Ahhh...Ok, I think I fixed it..."

"Cool! Ok, so whaddya think?"

"Chaos Emeralds...I don't know...are they really that powerful?"

"Sure! We just have to use them right! It's worth a try, isn't it?"

I thought about this. I wasn't sure, but it was a good idea, considering I had no other options unless I wanted to spend the rest of my life as a robot.

"Ok. Let's do it!"

"Cool!"

"Sonic, we need some spare parts. How much money d'you have?"

He glanced at the corner of the room, "two hundred and fifty seven rings. two hundred fifty _five_ after taxes."

I laughed, "Ok, but I wanna wait until the rain stops first."

"Sure."

"In the meantime, I'll get started on a machine that can detect powerful pulses."

And that's what I did.

* * *

I looked up at the dark ceiling of the small room. I was a bit dazed before I remembered that my machine was almost finished. I was laying on my back on the floor, with a wrench in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. _What woke me up?_ I wondered.

I felt a sharp pain in my leg, and I whimpered. More pain filled my arms, my chest, my head. I heard ringing in my ears, and a loud beeping sound could be heard from my CPU. A distress signal.

I rolled over and moaned. Hot tears cascaded down my face as I bit my lip and tried not to cry out in pain. It must be the EMP from earlier, plus the fact that flesh and metal don't go together. It was all becoming overwhelming, and I accidentally let out a sob.

"Tails?"

I froze.

"Tails, are you ok?" I had woken up Sonic. I was too afraid to speak, so I just focused on breathing, which was hard to do with a full robot body. _In and out, in and out, in and out..._

"Tails?" I felt a tender hand on my shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Pain tore through my arm, and I whimpered again. Sonic withdrew his hand, "Tails?" he was sounding more frantic.

I tried to speak, but the pain was too strong. It got stronger, and stronger. I could feel my insides burning. Finally, I went from softly crying to full on sobs. Sobs that filled me completely, there was no way I could stop, it made the pain worse, but I just kept crying.

Sonic lifted me into his lap, and rested my head on his shoulder. He gently stroked my back as I continued to cry, and he made soft shushing sounds in my ear. After about 2 minutes, he started to gently rock me back and forth. It was all very calming somehow.

Not too long later, the pain slowly dissipated until it went away altogether, and I stopped crying. It had wiped me of all my energy though, and I felt myself falling asleep. The last thing I remember was being laid back down carefully before I slipped into peaceful sleep.

ooo

I blinked in the sudden sunlight streaming in through the garage opening.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" Sonic teased playfully, "We've got emeralds to find!"

I rolled over so I was facing the wall, "Five more minutes..."

"Nope!" he grabbed my hand and pulled me into a sitting position, "Ya gotta get up now!"

I yawned and rubbed my eyes, "Why?"

"So we can change you back to normal?"

"Right right..." I stretched out my arms and lay back down.

"Come on, Tails!" he nudged me, "Let's go!"

"No."

"Hmmm..."

I lay there for another 5 minutes when the sound of an air horn filled the room. I screamed and flew into the air, hitting my head on the ceiling.

"Ow!" I fell back down onto the floor, rubbing my head, " _Sonic!_ "

He grit his teeth, "Sorry...I didn't mean to hurt you..."

I glared at him.

"Hey, are we gonna go get those emeralds or what?"

I picked up my tool box and slung it over my shoulder. I pulled out my new device that could sense high-energy waves and turned it on. The screen was blank for a moment before the diodes flashed and a map appeared, displaying signals marked with growing circles like ripples in a pond.

"How many Chaos Emeralds did you say there were?"

"Seven. Eight if you count the Master Emerald."

"That's weird...there's only one signal."

"What?" Sonic stood beside me so he could see the screen, "Huh. You're right."

"Well, I guess we'd better follow it and see where it goes."

"Yeah."

We left the place and made our way into the bright sunshine.

"Hey Tails, how d'you feel?"

I shrugged, "Better."

He smiled, "Cool."

"Why?"

"I just wanted to make sure that EM-whatever wasn't still bothering you."

"Yeah? Well, to tell the truth, it _is_ still bothering me..."

Sonic blocked my path, forcing me to stop walking. He smiled, and his emerald-green eyes sparkled, "Don't worry about it, I'd never let anything happen to you."

I smiled back at him before I muttered, "Thanks..."


	12. Chapter 12

We arrived at our destination in record time. I wasn't really sure what I expected it to be, but it certainly _wasn't_ an industrial factory that resembled a concentration camp from the Holocaust.

"What!?" Sonic exclaimed, "You'd think the guy would be a little more subtle!"

"No kidding!" I replied, "It's gotta be at least 200 acres long!"

"Pfff. I'm pretty sure he's gotten more than a few complaints from the government. Ugh! And what is that smell!"

"I think it's the smell of stale oil and burnt electronics."

"Well, either way, we need those emeralds. Come on!" Sonic jumped into the compound while I followed close behind. The robots weren't too hard to defeat, but unsurprisingly, the strongest robots were positioned at the heart of the compound.

"Hey, look! I guess the old guy got himself together after all! This should be fun!"

"Wait!" I grabbed his arm to stop him from rushing into battle, "You can't just attack him! He's made of titanium!"

"So?"

" _So_...they're a whole lot harder to hurt than a normal robot! I've got an idea!"

I tweaked my voice box so it was closer to the voice Eggman gave me when he turned me into a robot. I glazed my eyes over so I looked brainwashed, and I made sure my movements were jerky, reminiscent of a real robot.

"Don't say anything, and just trust me!" I whispered in Sonic's ear.

"Why?"

"You'll see..." I led him to the robots guarding the door. I was just hoping my rapid heartbeat wouldn't give me away.

"Let me through." I said simply.

The robots looked at each other for a moment before the door opened and let us inside. Once the door closed, Sonic softly whistled, "Good job! For a second, I was worried you were a real robot!"

"That was the point." I fixed my voice box, and returned my eyes to their normal color, "I wanted to make sure the robots were fooled too."

"Alright, well come on!" we made our way through the winding hallway that slowly spiraled downward. As we got lower underground, I began to grow uneasy. It was getting steadily darker, and colder. It was also just odd that I kept hearing a creaking noise, and the occasional drip of water falling onto a plate of metal. I found myself darting my eyes around everywhere, and felt chills running down my back.

"Sonic, I have a really bad feeling about this..." I whispered.

"So do I, but Eggman's never a big threat. Heck, I defeat him every time we meet!"

"If you say so..."

Sonic placed a hand on my shoulder, "If you're scared, you can wait on the surface."

"No way!" I said angrily, "I'm coming with you!"

"Ok. Don't worry, we'll have you back to your normal self in no time!"

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, "I hope..."

We finally got to the bottom of the compound, which had a small room with nothing but a small table and a stool.

"What'd'you suppose _this_ is all about?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know, but it's giving me a bad feeling..."

"Where are the emeralds?"

I consulted my hand-held, "The signal is coming from a room over there," I pointed to the far wall, "but it's inaccessible from here. Is there a door in this room anywhere?"

"Other than the one we came from, nope."

"There's gotta be a way..." I muttered. I searched for an entrance in that room, but it was impossible to enter or exit. The walls were made of titanium, so there was no way to break into it.

"Well…there doesn't seem to be a way in…" I muttered to myself.

"Hey, what's this?" Sonic touched the wall with his finger, and it shook.

"Sonic! What did you do!?" I ran to him and grabbed his arm, tugging him away from the violently-shaking wall. It gave way, and Sonic fell over me and against the far wall. I groaned and rubbed my head. Standing up, I surveyed the area, my eyes falling on some pedestals with different colored jewels on them. They were quite beautiful.

"Whoa! Look Sonic!"

"Uh…what?" Sonic turned to look over his shoulder and smiled, "Ah! The Chaos Emeralds! I guess they're ours now!"

"Wait…" I narrowed my eyes, "It's too easy…be on the look-out…"

Sonic's smile fell, "Right…"

I carefully reached for an emerald. I took it from its display, slowly, making sure nothing would suddenly jump out at me. I held it in my hands for a moment.

Sonic gasped, "Something's coming…hurry, Tails!"

"Right!" I took the rest of the emeralds, "There's only five here!"

"I have the rest!" Sonic said, "Let's get out of here!"

"Ok!" I followed him back up the winding hallway, but a giant mech blocked our path.

"Get behind me!" Sonic took a protective stance in front of me.

"Leaving so soon?" the person inside the mech revealed himself to be none other than Eggman, "Are you sure? I have a surprise for you!"

"Beat it, Eggman!" Sonic yelled, "I won't let you hurt Tails anymore!"

"Sonic…" I breathed.

"You know…if you just transformed with the emeralds, you'd easily be able to escape…"

Sonic laughed, "You've never been subtle, Eggman! Now I defiantly _won't_ use the emeralds because it fits into your evil plan! Am I right!?"

Eggman's smile gave me chills, "Very well…"

Suddenly, a homing missile was launched at us, Sonic grabbed my hand and tried to pull me away, but all the emeralds flew out of my hands, and Sonic ran right into another one. I was sure the impact had killed him, but golden rings flew out of him and he shook it off like it was nothing.

"Dang it! That was my last supply!"

"Look out!" I cried.

We easily avoided it that time, but there were bullets and missiles and torpedoes _everywhere!_ It was amazing that we could avoid them at all!

"Sonic! Eggman's not trying to take the emeralds from us! He really wants us to use them!"

"But we can't! He _wants_ us too!"

A giant fireball singed Sonic's ear right before it exploded behind him, sending us into the wall as he let go of my hand.

"Tails!" Sonic glanced over at the emeralds still on the floor. He didn't hesitate for much longer before scooping them up. He was engulfed in golden light, and after my eyes adjusted, I noticed that Sonic's fur had turned gold, and his quills were floating upward like they were defying gravity.

Sonic curled up and launched himself at the giant mech. He seemed to demolish everything in his path, destroying all the robots that had gathered. He looked at me with bright red eyes, "Go! I'll be ok!"

I nodded and ran as fast as I could through the opening he made in Eggman's wall of robots, using my twin tails to propel myself forward. Sonic used his new super powers to clear my path so I could get out. I kept running until I was out of the compound. I glanced over my shoulder, and sighed in relief when I realized Sonic had come out with me, still in his super form.

He laughed, "Not bad, Tails! Now let's hurry and-" he was interrupted by an explosion that launched the emeralds out of him, and threw him on the ground.

"Sonic!" I ran to him, but Eggman snatched him into the air with the arm of his mech, and Sonic couldn't even move his arms.

"Oh, too bad!" he taunted, "I guess I didn't have to kill Sonic with you!"

" _No!_ " I screamed, " _Sonic!_ "

"Run away, Tails!" Sonic smiled, "I'll be fine!"

Eggman took Sonic back into the facility before I could even react. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as I looked down at the Chaos Emeralds that Eggman had left behind. If I used them to transform like Sonic did, I could go back in and save him. I knew Eggman wanted me to, but Sonic was going to die either way, I figured I could at least _try_ to save him.

I picked up the emeralds and just held them in my hands. I didn't really know how to use them, which was a small problem. I tried to imagine the emeralds going inside me, filling me with power, lifting me into the air.

 _Come on…It's for Sonic…_

I felt my heart grow warm, and I was lifted into the air. The emeralds dissolved into the air around me as my yellow-orange fur lightened to gold. I felt myself get lighter, somehow, and I looked at my hands, realizing that they were no longer made of metal. I was once again a normal fox, made of flesh and bone. I laughed in delight before I realized it was only an illusion, and I was still a robot. I flew back into the compound and searched until I found Sonic in a big room, locked in a small cage, surrounded by water.

"Tails!" Sonic hissed, "I said run away! _Get out!_ "

"I couldn't leave you behind!" I said, letting another tear slide down my cheek, "I'm not leaving without you!"

"Yes you are! Get out, _now!_ "

In the time it took Sonic to say, "now", I had already broken him out of the cage, and was leading (dragging) him out of the room. I would get him out if it killed me.

I almost got that wish.

About halfway through the compound, I started to feel sick. I noticed a thick black fog enveloping me, and I could feel myself getting heavier.

"I tried to warn you, Tails!" Sonic's voice began to slur, "You shouldn't have freed me! It was booby-trapped!"

"Ugh!" Sonic started to feel heavy, and I began to rapidly fall to the ground. I tried my best to stay air-borne, but I could slowly feel myself slipping into unconsciousness. I groaned under the pressure, and resisted the urge to throw up. I began to twirl my twin tails in order to stay in the air, but eventually, I dropped Sonic and fell out of the air, falling fast asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

_I inhaled the sweet scent of roses blooming on the riverbank as I walked along the shoreline. I stopped to feel the spray of water on my face. It was extremely refreshing to be in such a lovely place, and I was really enjoying it._

 _I stood there for another minute before I leaned over the river. I lost my footing, and tumbled into the cold water. I was easily carried by the current downstream, and my mouth and nose filled with water. I struggled for breath, but I couldn't even get my head above the water. I felt myself drop over a waterfall, and fear pushed my heart into my throat as I tumbled to the bottom of the huge drop. I curled into a ball, hoping I wouldn't fall to my death._

 _I didn't feel the impact though, I just felt myself get dragged further underwater. My lungs felt like they would explode, and my limbs and tails were burning with the effort of trying to escape. I could see the surface getting farther away, and the water compression was putting extreme pressure on my lungs. Finally, my lungs gave way, and I took a huge breath of cold water. My vision clouded over, and my head tilted upward as I lost all will to move._

* * *

The static in my vision cleared, and I was staring up at complete darkness. My muscles were stiff and sore, and I had to blink a few times before I could see anything. I slowly sat up, realizing that I was lying on a pile of hay. The room was small, and it was full of little knick-knacks. It appeared to be a garage, and the whole thing just seemed…familiar…

 _Wait…_

I almost choked myself in an attempt to keep from screaming. This was the exact place I had spent 7 years of my life. The place I used to call home before I finally escaped with Sonic. I began to panic, moving around the room and touching everything to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating or something. Everything was 100% real, right down to the light bulb that hung from the ceiling.

I began to cry. Sobs violently shook me, and I was so overcome with despair that I fell onto my knees. I buried my face in my hands, tears falling from my face and landing on the floor. I hugged myself, trying to calm myself enough so that I wouldn't give myself away. I cried until I had no tears left, I cried until I was tired again, I cried until I was ready to give up.

And I wasn't talking about the crying.

I wiped the tears from my face and turned on the light bulb in the middle of the room. I gasped in horror when I found that my entire right arm was covered in blood, as well as my left hand. I stumbled backward a few feet.

 _What have I done!?_

* * *

I woke up in a daze. I had no idea where I was, until I remembered the previous night, and my tears came back, full-force. I was sure Sonic was dead. I didn't want to accept it, heck I didn't allow myself to even think about it, but I felt that hole deep down inside. I knew that even if he was still alive, I would never see him again.

My life went back to the way it was before I met Sonic, except I was a robot, and I felt the deep loss of someone I cared about. My processors began to overheat from the stress. I didn't feel like leaving the small garage that had been my sanctuary for almost my whole life, so I was left to think.

I had mixed feelings about being back. While I mostly hated it, there was a small part of me that had missed this place that had served as my home in the darkest part of my life. I knew where everything was, I recognized every inch of the room, I had memorized all the things about this horrible city that I had ever dared to explore.

Even though I was mostly ok, I couldn't stop thinking about Sonic, about all the kindness he showed me, and what an amazing friend he was. My mind drifted back to the night I had woken up from the pain in my motor systems, and he had cradled me until I fell asleep. He treated _me_ like a brother, the random kid he found on the street of a not-so-likable neighborhood just a month ago. He chose to be nice to me when no one else would, and that made the loss even more heartbreaking.

The worst thing that happened though, was when I woke in the middle of the night, full of pain. I began to cry, wishing above everything else that Sonic could be there to calm me down again. Instead, I was awake all night. The pain finally stopped when the sun came up the next morning. It was by far the longest night of my life.

I didn't leave the garage for at least 2 weeks before I (carefully) explored the city. It was harder than I remembered, mostly because I wasn't used to snooping around after a while of living in luxury, _and_ because of my new-found robot parts and trying to hold back tears the whole time.

I gave up trying to do anything and started to head home, but something caught my eye. I turned to look at it, and realized it was a plane. A red bi-plane. The same red bi-plane that I had fixed myself back in November. It was Sonic's plane, the Tornado.

I laced my fingers together. I could escape with the plane...but without Sonic, what's the point? I could leave, but the loneliness would follow me wherever I went. It didn't matter that I'd be free, there was nowhere to go.

It made me think of Sonic all over again. I wasn't sure how the plane got there in the first place, but it didn't matter to me, I wasn't leaving. I trudged away from the air plane, feeling defeated in every way. I forgot to be secretive, so as you can imagine, I was caught.

"Hey Kid!"

I froze. I knew that voice anywhere.

"Long time no see!" he said, "I can't wait to see what you can do now!"

I glanced over my shoulder to find the green hedgehog, Scourge. He had beaten me up pretty badly last time we met, going so far as to break my arm.

I tried to look brave and keep my voice from shaking, "Go away, Scourge!"

"Oo! Scary! Hey, what's with the mechanical upgrades? Will you put up a better fight this time?"

"Leave me alone!" I felt my voice box malfunction, and my voice cracked.

Scourge laughed, "I'll take that as a...'not likely'!" he lunged at me, and I narrowly dodged, "Ah! So you _have_ gotten better, though not by much..." he kept trying to hurt me, and I kept dodging. I could feel my processors running down, and it made me realize that I hadn't charged in a long time. If I ran out of power...

He swung at me one more time. I tried to dodge it, but I wasn't fast enough. I tried to get away, but he pinned me down. He had one arm across my throat, and it was choking me.

"That was fun! You've gotten _much_ better than before! I underestimated you, Kiddo!"

He pressed so hard on my neck that a spark flew out of it and shocked him, "AH!" he flew back enough for me to knee him in the face Sonic-Brawl Style and jump up. I twirled my tails so I was flying about 10 feet above his head.

"Don't mess with me!" I screamed, flying away.

I caught a glimpse of a broken mirror on my way back to my house. Scourge looked completely dumbfounded. He was utterly incredulous, as if I had slapped him in the face with a raw steak. Apparently, it didn't last long, because half-way back to my garage, Scourge caught up with me and did a Homing-Attack, knocking me out of the air. I struggled to get up, but that was a powerful attack! Scourge pushed me onto the ground and tried to choke me again.

"No one tries to kill me..." he said darkly, "I thought you knew that..."

"I was...just trying...to protect myself..." I coughed.

"You know, I can't stand it when I lose...you need to be taught a lesson..."

"Scourge..." my voice box broke, and my voice began to glitch, "...why do you do-o this? Why do y-you keep try-ying to hurt me-e?"

"Because it's fun!" he said simply, "But no one makes their predator tremble in fear! That's not how it works!" he tightened his grip on me, "I'm the cat, and you're the mouse!" suddenly, a flash of blue launched Scourge into the air.

"Well, if you're the cat, that makes _me_ the dog!"

It was...

"Sonic!" I grinned, "You're alive!"

"Of course!" Sonic kicked Scourge and he flew into a wall, "Don't you have better things to do than pick on little kids?"

"Urg! I will get you back! I swear it!" Scourge ran away, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

" _Sonic!_ " I gleefully ran to him and hugged him.

"Ow!"

I backed up in surprise, noticing for the first time that Sonic was wrapped in bandages.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah...let's say, Eggman wasn't exactly forgiving...I'm ok though..." he seemed sincere, but I couldn't help but wonder if he was really hurt.

Then, something dawned on me, "It was my fault...wasn't it?"

Sonic put a hand on my shoulder, "No." he smiled, "Eggman took control of your body, and forced you to attack me. It wasn't your fault."

I took a few steps back, averting his gaze. It explained why I had the blood on my hands. I wrapped my arms around myself, and resisted the urge to cry again. Sonic hugged me tightly, "Cheer up, Buddy. It'll be alright. I gotcha."

I thought about the night Sonic had cradled me. He hadn't mentioned it at all afterward, probably because he didn't want me to think about the pain. I remember how gently he had held me, like I was a small child who had woken from a nightmare. I had felt so small and vulnerable, and yet so safe in Sonic's arms. It just seemed like...dare I say it?...he loved me...

"How'd you escape?" I asked.

"It wasn't that hard." he replied, "I just had to surprise the old doctor!"

I pulled away from Sonic, "So...you ready to get out of here?"

Sonic's smile fell, "Uh...about that..."

"What?"

"Well...Eggman's surveying the perimeter of this place. He knew I'd come after you once I escaped, so he has full security around the city. There's no way we're getting out unless he wants us to."

My heart fell, "There's no way out?"

"Hey, we'll be alright..."

" _No!_ You don't know that! You have no idea what it's like to be trapped! I've lived in this dump my whole life, and I never felt hopeful, but at least I knew I could get out someday! But now..." my hands balled into fists, and I could feel my processor speeding up to handle the rising emotion.

"Tails..."

"I'm done with your false hope! I'm done with all of this!"

Sonic didn't say anything. He seemed to be looking for the right words, but I wasn't hearing any of it. I ran away as fast as I could, back to the sanctuary of my garage, because of course, it was all I had left.


	14. Chapter 14

Sonic didn't follow me back, so I was left to mope by myself. I don't know what made me so angry, but I'm glad Sonic was gone. After a while though, I felt the loneliness catch up to me, and I found myself wishing Sonic would come back.

Sonic did eventually come back, but he hadn't come empty-handed. He had brought back a Chaos Emerald.

"Hey Tails." he said.

"Sonic, where'd you get that?"

"I got it from one of the robots." he tossed it to me.

"You destroyed it? Even with your injuries?"

"He wasn't strong." he stretched out his arm, "Ow...jeez..."

"You ok?"

"Yeah yeah..." he massaged his shoulder, "If we collect the emeralds, we can get out!"

"Yeah?... _How!?_ "

Sonic flinched at my outburst, "What?"

"I'm not strong! You're hurt! It doesn't seem possible!"

"Hey, I told you, it'll be alright."

I gave up trying to reason with him, collapsing on the floor.

"Look, I know it doesn't seem possible now...but we can't just give up! We have to try! If we give up, we'll be stuck here forever! Isn't it better to at least have a chance?"

I looked into his eyes. He was telling the truth. He wasn't just telling me this to make me feel better, he genuinely believed that we had a chance. He was sure we could get out if we worked together to make it happen.

I sighed, "Ok...if you're sure..."

He nodded, "Good. Well, you should get some sleep." he laid down on the floor and put his hands behind his head, "Night."

I lay back on my bed, but couldn't fall asleep. I needed to sleep, even as a robot, but I also needed electricity, and I didn't have the charger that Eggman had equipped me with. I glanced to the side to see that the car engine that had served as a power source for one of my projects was still here. I reached for a loose wire and stuck it into my charge port on the small of my back. I sighed at the smooth rush of energy. I knew I'd exhaust the battery power, but I didn't care. I rolled onto my side and fell asleep.

* * *

"Tails! Wake up!"

I blinked in the sudden light. Sonic began to shake me, "Come on!"

"Ugh...go away..." I moaned.

Sonic inhaled through his teeth, "If you say so..."

"Ack! Never mind! I'm awake!" I forced myself into a sitting position, "Just don't throw me into the ceiling!"

"Hey, that was an accident!" he said defensively, "We gonna get those emeralds, or what?"

"Yeah yeah...just one second..." I unplugged the wire from my charge port and the rush of energy dissipated. It helped me wake up, "Ok, let's go!"

"Cool!"

I followed Sonic outside, where he brought me across the junkyard. Yes, the dreaded junkyard, full of broken glass and sludge.

"Sonic, why do we have to go through here?"

"It's faster, now shush!"

"Why?"

"Shhh!"

"Ugh."

I tried my best to follow him, but it was hard to trudge through all the muck in the place. Sonic wouldn't even allow me to fly over it because he was afraid we would get caught! So I had to keep trying to walk through the garbage while Sonic seemed to be doing fine. Was he _used_ to walking in crap?

"Ok..." Sonic crept behind a car door to spy on a nearby robot. I ducked behind him to watch.

"What are you gonna do?" I whispered.

"Just watch..." he said under his breath. He crept up to the robot and tapped him on the shoulder. The robot turned his head curiously, and Sonic punched the robot in the face. Its head spun around its body until it fell off, and Sonic tore the robot apart, revealing a Chaos Emerald nestled in its chest.

"Perfect!" Sonic threw it in the air and caught it again, "They're easier to defeat if you surprise them."

"Ugh!" I pulled myself out of the garbage, "and we had to walk through the junkyard!?"

"Oh, I've seen worse."

"You know, you're really getting on my nerves..." I said.

"Meh..." he put the gem away, "Come on! Let's go!"

I grit my teeth in anger.

We ended up using the junkyard to collect the other emeralds. Since there were 7 of them, it took a long time, and it was very tedious. I could feel myself growing impatient, and it was hard to stay quiet when my motor systems were trying to cool my processors, because they were growing hot from the anxiety.

"Ok...last one..." Sonic muttered.

"Hurry!" I hissed.

The robot turned its head and fired a missile in our direction, narrowly missing us, and sending us flying.

"Ow!" Sonic wrapped his arms around himself.

"Sonic! Are you ok!?" I laid my hand on his head, and he winced.

"Ow, ow, ow..."

I cursed myself for giving us away to this mega-powerful robot simply because I was growing impatient. I tried to fight the robot, but compared to him, I was a fly trying to beat up a wall of metal. I remembered that I was capable of turning my arm into a laser cannon, but I wasn't sure how to do it using my brain instead of my motherboard. I tried to access the robotic side of me, to embrace it, and control it. I felt the world slow down while I hacked into myself. Code flashed across my eyes, and I knew I was slipping out of consciousness.

 _All systems online. Start-up protocol initiated._

 _Yes._

I made my arm transform into a cannon and fired at the robot. It exploded on contact, and the emerald flew out of it.

"Wow!" Sonic shakily stood up, "Nice job, Tails!"

I couldn't really make sense of his words, but I tried my best to respond, "Thank you."

He looked concerned, "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yes."

Sonic surveyed me for a moment, "Ok...well, come on! Let's go!"

I followed him back to into the junkyard, in the direction of the Tornado. I didn't feel the need to say anything, and Sonic seemed uncomfortable with the silence.

" _Your_ awfully quiet..." he said.

I didn't say anything.

"Tails? Are you alright?"

"Yes."

"You don't seem alright..."

"What do you mean." I asked.

"You seem, well...like a robot. You aren't acting like yourself..."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

I didn't say anything, feeling like arguing was a waste of energy.

Sonic blocked my path, and I was forced to stop, "Tails...you are not acting like yourself! _Wake up!_ "

My programming was broken, and I turned back into a normal fox.

I shook my head violently, "What...?"

"Tails?"

I rubbed my eyes, "Sonic? What happened? I was oblivious! I..."

"You're ok now..." said Sonic, "You're alright..."

"I can turn myself into a full robot, but if I do, I won't be able to change back because I don't _want_ to!"

"Why'd'ya do it anyway?"

"Because I'm not strong on my own..." I felt a tear slide down my cheek for the millionth time that day, and pretty soon, I was crying all over again.

Sonic put each of his hands on my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes, which were sparkling with honesty and sincerity.

"Yes you are..."


	15. Chapter 15

Sonic and I climbed into the Tornado, and took off into the air. Sonic was surprisingly good at steering the plane, and even understood most of the dials on the dashboard. I sat in the passenger's seat that _I_ had fixed.

"Ok, let's go!" Sonic said enthusiastically.

"Whoa! The sky is so open! It feels so free! Can I try!?"

"What, flying?"

"Yeah! Lemme try! Please!?"

He laughed, "Ok, ok! Here!" he jumped out of the pilot seat, and I jumped into it. Sonic settled himself in the passenger's seat, so we basically just switched places.

I gripped the steering wheel, and shifted the plane from side to side. I was careful at first, but pretty soon, I was twisting and looping through the air at high speeds. I laughed in delight, and Sonic jumped onto the tail-end of the plane.

"What are you doing!?" I said to him.

"It's more fun up here!" he replied, "Go faster!"

I grinned, "If you say so..." I sped the plane up into the sky before doing a nose-dive and finally leveling the plane again.

" _Whoa!_ " Sonic laughed, " _Yeah!_ "

" _Woohoo!_ " I cried.

We sailed like that all the way back to our hide-out in Station Square. We climbed out and Sonic fell over, gasping for air.

"Sonic!?"

"Ow..."

"Sonic..." I took his hand and tried to help him up, but he was too weak to stay on his feet, "I was too hard on you, wasn't I? I'm sorry..."

"No...that was awesome..." he inhaled sharply, "...I just need to rest for a second..."

I sat down next to him and waited for a moment. The only thing that could be heard was his heavy panting.

"Sonic...I'm sorry...I've been such a burden on you...and..."

"Hey! None o' that, ok?" he coughed, taking a second to catch his breath, "It's not your fault, it never was, It's _my_ choice to protect you, ya know? I want you to be safe!"

I didn't want to say anything, because I was afraid of crying again.

"It's ok...I'm fine with putting myself in danger if it means you'll be safe...ow..." he shakily stood up, and I hurriedly went to support him on my shoulder. I helped him walk back to our hide-out, and he collapsed on the floor.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine..." he lay on the floor for a couple minutes while I just sat and watched his chest rise and fall. He finally got himself together and stood up, brushing it off as if nothing had happened, "See?"

I nodded, "Ok..."

"So...you ready to stop being a robot?"

"Oh, Uh..." I had wanted to turn back for a long time, but now that I was actually about to do it, I was unsure. I _wanted_ to turn back, but being a robot made me so much stronger, and more powerful. I felt significant, I felt like I mattered, and going back to the nerdy kid with two tails...

"Uh...I don't want to..."

Sonic looked surprised, "What?"

I looked at the ground and wrapped my tails around myself in an attempt to hide.

Sonic brushed one of them out of the way so he could see my face, "Why?"

I felt my eyes grow misty, "I don't want to feel small..."

"Huh?"

I burst into tears, despite me trying to hold them back. I didn't have any tears left to cry, but I cried anyway.

"Tails!" he hugged me, and began to speak softly into my bangs, "What's wrong, Buddy?"

I continued to cry for a while longer before I calmed down enough to respond, "I don't want to be alone again!"

"Shhh..." Sonic stroked my back, being super gentle, "What do you mean?"

"I used to be small and weak, but ever since I turned into a robot, I've been so much stronger...I don't want to be weak anymore...I want to be strong..." I buried my face in Sonic's shoulder, "...I want to be strong..."

Sonic held me for another moment like that before he decided to speak, still very softly, "Tails...do you remember when you saved my life?"

"Yeah, but I was-"

"A robot?"

I didn't say anything.

"You may have been a robot, but when your tails broke, you fixed yourself. You came after me, and you pulled me out of the water. You did that because you were courageous enough to put me above yourself. That was _you_. That didn't happen because you were a robot, that was all you..." he pulled away slightly so he could look into my eyes, "You _are_ strong...you matter, and you are special..."

Sonic wiped a tear off my cheek, "You don't have to be a robot to be courageous."

* * *

It took at least 3 hours, but I was finally back to normal. I spun my arms around my shoulders, "This is amazing! I'll never take flesh for granted again!"

Sonic laughed, "Note taken! Hey, you wanna try out those tails as a regular fox?"

"You think it'll work?"

"Why not? Come on!"

Sonic led me outside, where I discovered I could fly just like before, only this time, I felt more wide-open and free, like I could touch the sky. I felt like nothing could hold me back.

"Hey!" Sonic called from the ground, "Could'ja give me a lift!?"

I swooped down and grabbed one of Sonic's hands, lifting him high into the air. He laughed in delight.

"This is amazing! I love it! Take me higher!"

I flew so high we could see the entire city, and Sonic was overjoyed. He loved every minute of it, and you know what? I did too.

THE END


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